Watercolor on ivory, oval portrait miniature, dated 1809 and initialed illegibly lower right. An exceptionally well painted portrait of a blushing young woman, the sitter in an Empire dress with an amethyst crescent shaped pin on the collar, with seed pearls and upswept hair with a tortoise shell comb, framed under a convex glass. The background is a textured moss green, graduated from darker at the bottom to lighter at the top. Set into unmarked rose gold case with fancy bail. Verso of case is convex, with very dark cobalt glass with a starburst pattern below, surrounding an oval of braided hair momento. Approx. 3-1/4" x 2-7/8".
James Peale (American, 1749-1831) was known to have specialized at one time in miniature portraits and enjoyed a great demand for them. He is known to have incised the initials and dated each in the lower right corner, the initials being "I P". He was also known to have used the graduated tonal background most often in his miniatures. He stopped working in miniature in 1810 due to failing eyesight.
2,000/3,000 Sold $8,165.00
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